1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a power semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In known power semiconductor devices, power semiconductor components, such as power semiconductor switches and diodes, are generally disposed on a substrate and electrically conductively connected to one another by a conductor layer of the substrate as well as bonding wires and/or a film composite. The power semiconductor switches in this case are generally in the form of transistors, such as, for example, IGBTs (Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistors) or MOSFETs (Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors) or in the form of thyristors.
The power semiconductor components disposed on the substrate are in this case often electrically interconnected to form one or more so-called half-bridge circuits, which are used, for example, for rectifying and inverting electric voltages and currents.
Conventional power semiconductor devices have load connection elements for conducting load currents, with the aid of which load connection elements the power semiconductor devices are electrically conductively connected to external components via electrically conductive power line elements, such as busbars, for example. The load currents in this case generally have a high current intensity in comparison with auxiliary currents which are used for actuating the power semiconductor switches, for example. The load connection elements generally run through the housing of the respective power semiconductor device. The load connection elements each have an outer connection section disposed outside the housing and an inner connection section disposed within the housing. The inner connection section of the load connection elements is intended to move as little as possible or to be subjected to compressive or tensile loading as little as possible when electrical contact is made (for example by screw connections) between the load connection elements and the power line elements, such as, for example, the busbars, and during operation of the power semiconductor device since, as a result, the life of the electrically conductive connections between the load connection elements and, for example, the substrate of the power semiconductor device, which connections are disposed in the interior of the housing of the power semiconductor device, is reduced. Owing to mechanical tolerances of the power line elements and the power semiconductor device and the spacing thereof from one another, compressive or tensile loading often occurs at the outer connection sections of the load connection elements, which results in the above-described undesired movements of the inner connection sections of the load connection elements.